Freespace: The Great War instaallation problems-HELP ME PLEASE!!

hi, i signed up 2 this site because i've been having problems installing one the origional Freespace game, Freespace: The Great War on Windows XP. Whenever i try 2 run the installer, a message pops up saying:

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT. The system is not suitable forrunning MS-DOS and microsoft windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.

The cd then just stops spinning and nothing happens.

I have tried changing the compatability and gone into VGA mode and tried to install, but there is still no luck.

I havn't got a clue what to do and I really want to get this game back!! I just need to get it on my pc so that I can download the latest updates for it to get it running properly on xp.